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Vanek Homers in 6-2 Loss to Pelicans

His 14th homer of the year is most since Blake Mitchell had 18 in 2024
By Columbia Fireflies
September 2, 2026

Top Storylines - JC Vanek charged his team-leading 14th homer of the season opposite field to cut the Pelicans lead to 4-2 in the fifth inning. His 14 homers are the most in a single-season for the Fireflies since Blake Mitchell had 18 homers in 106 games in 2024. -

Top Storylines

  • JC Vanek charged his team-leading 14th homer of the season opposite field to cut the Pelicans lead to 4-2 in the fifth inning. His 14 homers are the most in a single-season for the Fireflies since Blake Mitchell had 18 homers in 106 games in 2024.
  • Moises Amezquita steadied the ship for the Fireflies. The lefty spun the last 2.2 innings without allowing a run. It was the longest outing for any Fireflies pitcher tonight.
  • The Fireflies can still tie the franchise record for wins in a season, but they have to win each of their last four games with the Pelicans.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — JC Vanek mashed his team-leading 14th homer of the season beyond the left field fence as the Fireflies lost to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Wednesday night at Pelicans Ballpark. With the homer, Vanek has the most homers in a single-season since Blake Mitchell mashed 18 homers in 2024.

With the loss, the Fireflies can no longer set the single-season wins record this year, but they can still tie the top mark in team history if they win each of their last four games of the year.

Play-by-Play

Michael Lombardi started the game with two scoreless innings and two strikeouts for Columbia before he passed the ball to Jesus Oliveira (L, 2-1). The righty struggled in his first relief appearance of the series. He allowed four earned runs while only recording a single out. The first run scored on a bases loaded wild pitch and later in that at-bat Caden Sorrell clobbered a three-run homer off the right field foul pole to push Myrtle Beach to a 4-0 lead before the end of the third.

Columbia got on the board against Hayden Frank in the top of the fifth inning. Daniel Lopez reached on a fielder’s choice and then JC Vanek charged his 14th homer of the season to left field to cut the Pelicans lead in half to 4-2.

Justin LeGuernic spun a scoreless fifth inning, but ran into trouble in the sixth. He allowed a hit, walked a batter and hit a batter before Moises Amezquita came in and surrendered a flair single from Caden Sorrell that plated Ivan Cespedes and Juan Cabada to push the Pelicans lead back up to four.

After LeGuernic, Moises Amezquita closed out the game with 2.2 scoreless innings around three hits and no walks. It was the longest outing for the Fireflies tonight and helped save the bullpen for tomorrow’s game.

On the other side, Hayden Frank (W, 4-9) tossed his longest outing of the season. The southpaw worked five innings around two runs and then got the ball to Ashton Pocal for three hitless innings to keep Columbia at bay until the ninth. At that point, Jordan Henriquez came out for a 1-2-3 inning to close out the contest.

On-Deck

The Fireflies continue their series with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans tomorrow night at Pelicans Ballpark at 7:05 pm. RHP Ryan McDonagh (2-4, 5.44 ERA) takes the hill for Columbia and Myrtle Beach counters with RHP Kevin Camacho (0-2, 12.46 ERA).

Thank you for keeping up with the Fireflies for the 2026 season! Stay tuned for updates on off-season events at Segra Park and updates on the upcoming 2027 season. More details are available at FirefliesTickets.com.